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Category Archives: new house

Lots of news in our family! We’re moving! I still can’t believe it! It’s a been a wild few months!

A little background first! I LOVE our current house! It’s so my style and fun and has the perfect outdoor/indoor vibe with a front and back covered patio that I will miss so much! I really didn’t think I would ever move. On the other hand! My husband owns a construction business, John Koch Construction, and he is suuuuuuuuper passionate about old homes and renovating them back to their original glory! He even won the Mayor’s Award for Historic Preservation last year on this home (also featured here and a different home here) – so awesome! He has been bugging me for the last year to move back to his roots, the McKennan Park area (I grew up near 69th and Minnesota, south sider!), so he’s brought up a few to me, which I have heavily declined because I do not possess his superior quality of what we call “a vision” with these old homes.

John has always had his eyes on this one house, a 1912 prairie style Mediterranean inspired home on the historic registry, and has even told the owners, his friends, that if they ever sell, they need to call him. Well, this past May, they actually called him!!! I basically knew that was it! We were going to move! I couldn’t say no to his dream home! We toured it the following day, made our offer the next day, and signed papers just a few days later! EEEEK! I had a whiplash of emotions from crying because I love our current home to excited to live in something so spectacular and historic. And now after the dust has settled, I can say that I’m 100% excited! Well okay, maybe 99% excited and 1% scared! :)

Although, I’m a total modern lover, John and his love for old homes has definitely rubbed off on me over the last couple of years. This home is FULL OF CHARACTER and has wood floors that are to die for. I walked in and actually felt all the warm fuzzies!! It will be such a fun home to raise our family in. Not to mention the walkability to downtown and McKennan park! We’re just 5 blocks away from downtown! There are so many neat features to this home and John is so excited to bring its original character back. It has so much rich interior detailing!

Home history: It was built in 1912 to Roger and Lillian Dennis. Dennis was with Dennis and Dennis, real estate and loans. In 1918 until the 1930s, William H. T. Foster, general manager of John Morrell and Company, and his wife, Jeanette, lived there. The house then became a tea room for a few years, and then in the late 1930’s (we think) after WWII, it became a triplex. The owners lived on the first floor and basement and the upstairs was two separate units. We are SO EXCITED to bring this house back to a SINGLE FAMILY HOME!!!! The entire upstairs will be transformed from a duplex into our 4 bedrooms, a laundry room, and a small playroom.